Modern Tales
by Starladoll86
Summary: Mike and Tina are given an assignment during the end of the first season of glee. It's an assignment that makes them both question their history. It will feature all the glee people but mostly Tike.


_So the young princess decided to run away not wanting to be forced into marriage to the soldier's son. She loved the boy who created the beautiful lanterns and wanted to be his bride instead. The soldier was very upset and told the king that he was going to take his troops out of the king's land and leave them defenseless against the armies wanting to rule the land. That was when they agreed that the next daughter born in the king's family would marry into the soldier's family in an arranged marriage. Until that time, the soldier and his own family would be treated as royalty in the land and would never have to go into battle again._

I had just finished writing the short story in his notebook for creative writing and put my pencil down as I looked around the room to everyone else. They all looked bored or sleeping. Was I the only student in here who actually had a childhood story that wasn't one that every child was told when they were younger? Matt sat to my left in the middle of the class quietly talking to one of his teammates from the basketball team. Artie sat to my right and a seat up, it was clear from this angle that he didn't care about the assignment since he was reading a strategy book about Halo behind his notebook. Tina, who sat next to me, was drawing pictures all over her page absent mindedly. I was able to make out a few which were flowers that didn't look drawn.

"Do you not have a childhood story?" I asked her quietly causing her to jump a little and then closed her book so I couldn't see anything else. "That is what I get for being adopted. The only stories my parents told me came from the Disney collection. What is yours about?" I handed her my notebook and let her read my story. I didn't feel embarrassed letting her read it the way I would have been if Matt or Puck would have read it.

"This is really beautiful. Did your mom tell this to you when you were younger?" "No my grandfather did. He said it was a true story and that I should always remember every detail of it because it tells the future in it." Tina started laughing a little at my explanation. "My mom is convinced that he was crazy and the story was a silly one." "I think she might be right. It is still absolutely beautiful though. It is kind of nice to know there are people who still believe in fairytales though." She chuckled just as the teacher called the class back to attention.

"So your assignment for the next week is creating a family tree. Get as much information about your family's history as you can and make a report about it. It will count for 40% of your final grade." The teacher announced and I heard Tina quietly groan from my right side. "This sucker is going to be super easy. My sister just had to do a small scale tree for her class but all our relatives gave her everything she needed to know." Artie said turning around to give Tina a smile and to gloat a little. "Well I lucked out a little also, both of my parents are going to be home early tonight and I will be able to quiz them about our history." "Aren't you guys just so stinking lucky. I'm adopted and have been told by my parents numerous times that they have no idea where I came from but just know that I was adopted in China. I do have a picture of myself and my real parents but nothing more than that. I'm going to fail this class because my parents were lazy bums who couldn't take care of me."

That was the last thing Tina had said before the class was over and everyone started to file out of the room and to their lockers. Tina was pushing Artie who was talking about a new technique he wanted to try in Halo tonight while Matt was talking nonstop to me but I had tuned him out. I felt bad for Tina that she wouldn't be able to turn in a full assignment. There was always something about her that made me feel like I needed to protect her but keep my distance at the same time. The first time I had really seen her was the first glee practice and instantly felt a pull towards her. I had figured that she was the only other Asian at our school and I had a big brother type thing over her. That made the most sense since we did have the same history except I was raised learning what it is and she has been in the dark.

"Hey, if you want, you could come over for dinner tonight and talk to my mom. She won't know your specific history but she could tell you things about China that could help with your report." Tina's eyes lit up a little at the idea as I guessed she realized her paper wouldn't be so bad if she got some actual details. "Artie, I'm going to go to Mike's to find out some things for my report." "Uh huh, yeah ok have fun." He said not looking up from his book. "One of these days I'm going to get the courage to kick his butt to the curb." She told me as we started to walk away and out to the parking lot.

"Thanks for stopping by my house so I can get this picture. I don't know what good it will do but maybe your parents will see something in it that I'm not." "It really is no problem. My mom loves talking about our culture and teaching others about it as well." She smiled back at me and relaxed back into the passenger seat until we made it my house.

I opened the door and smelled dumplings and beef. My mom clearly loved me considering those were my favorites. "Hey mom", I hollered from the door as I was taking my shoes off and saw Tina next to me doing the same. "Mike, come on in here, I'm in the middle of boiling." She replied as I led Tina into the kitchen/dining room area. "How was sch… Who is this beautiful young lady?" She asked looking up from the large pot and saw Tina standing next to me. "Hello Mrs. Chang, my name is Tina. Mike and I have a big project we are working on in class and I was wondering if you could help me with it." "Well I would love to help but first you can start by calling Julia. Mrs. Chang was Michael's mom and I'm nothing like her." "We have to do a project regarding our family tree. Tina was adopted and doesn't know anything except for the fact that she is adopted from China and has a picture of her parents."

"So it's a Chinese mystery? That is great news! Let us go sit at the table while Mike finishes up supper for us." My mom said handing me the large spoon while pushing Tina to the table. "You know I have the same project that is due at the same time." They both seemed to ignore me as my mom started to pull books from the bookcase in the living room before settling down next to Tina.

"I was born in a small town outside of Beijing where my family owns most of the land. There was another small town right next to that one that had one family owning most of the land there as well. My father used to tell me and Mike a story about a princess that ran away leaving a soldier that she was supposed to marry." "Yeah, I read that story today in class. Mike had written it for our in class assignment." "Well, my father would tell you that our family and the other one were the two families in the story. As much as I would love to believe that, I don't think it is true. My ancestors were very smart and I chose to believe that they came to their wealth by working hard for it. Speaking of which, my parents wanted me to have a top education, so they enrolled me for the best school in China. It was there that I met Michael Sr. and we have been together ever since. A year after I finished my law degree and in the last few months before Michael received his doctorate; I gave birth to Mike. He was only 8 months old when Michael received a job in the USA out of the blue for a lead physician job. It was too good to pass up, so we said goodbye to our families and moved here. We go visit them in China every once in awhile but things have changed since I've been a little girl."

"How small was the town you grew up in?" "It was a little bit smaller than Lima but it was a large tourist attraction. There is a large castle that sits back in the woods that everyone wants to see. It is at least 200 years old and is quickly falling apart but it is still kind of magical to see it. Naturally the locals take advantage of the tours out to the castle and set up shops all along the way selling lots of little trinkets. Mike actually has a few from our visits." "It sounds so beautiful there." "You are in luck, we have tons of pictures." "Is this really necessary? I don't think Tina wants to see my baby pictures." Tina smiled up at me with an evil grin and I knew I was in trouble.

"This is all of us standing in front of the front steps on my family's side of castle." I saw baby Mike being held by his mom who looked a little younger with his dad standing on the other side holding Mike's little hand up to make it seem like he was waving. There were two others that I didn't recognize but figured they had to be Julia's parents since they looked a lot like her. I couldn't help but start to flip through the other pictures trying to imagine myself in them with my own parents or if the place they lived at looked anything like this one. It actually gave me a sense of hope that they had a happy life where ever they grew up and might be now. That maybe they weren't low lives that just didn't want to be bothered by a kid.

"Hello family", Mike's dad said as he walked through the door and came into the dining room where we were all still looking at pictures and books of China trying to help Mike with his report and make some connections with mine. "Oh no, Julia has the books out?! I should have stayed at work." He replied before giving Julia a kiss and heading to the kitchen to get a plate of food.

"Thanks for all your help tonight. I don't feel as lost now. Maybe your mom will be able to come up with more for me by tomorrow night." "Oh I'm sure if there is anything to be found then she will find it." I told her as we were standing on her front porch. "Well, I guess I will see you at school tomorrow. Have a good night Tina." "You too Mike", she gave me a soft kiss on the cheek before turning around and headed inside. This wasn't as bad of a project as I first thought it would be. I found myself anxious for tomorrow to get here.

**I don't own anything Glee just love the show! I wanted to write a story that broke away from the normal pattern but still have it focused around Mike, Tina, and their background stories. Let me know what you think about it. Thanks **


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